


benched

by tadashikawa



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Eventual Romance, M/M, athlete!freddy, billy tutors freddy, cheerleader!mary, eugene is billys only friend, football player!pedro, freddy gets injured playing football and that's why he became handicapped, mary babysits darla, nerdy!billy, no foster family au, no powers au, not really enemies to lovers but they don't like each other at the start, slow burn i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-13 15:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tadashikawa/pseuds/tadashikawa
Summary: In which Freddy gets injured playing football and soon after his grades start to drop. Billy is assigned to tutor him so he can pass his finals and they immediately do not get along. Freddy is stubborn, Billy is tired, and their opposing personalities clash immensely. Little do they know how much this obligation would change them, and maybe help them realize that underneath their cliches they weren't so different after all.





	1. prologue

Freddy scanned the field and clenched his jaw. He watched the players move as he decided which route to take.

 

_Right? Or Left?_

 

A rush of adrenaline flowed throughout his body as he darted to the right side. He pushed through the massive bodies and the end zone became clear. He held the ball closer to his chest as he increased his speed towards the goal. Suddenly his drive was abruptly stopped by a pain shooting through his right leg. He fell to the ground and heard a whistle calling off the play.

He knew he was in an excruciating amount of pain but his body felt numb as he was dragged off the field. Black dots started clouding his vision and soon he fell unconscious.

The medics and one of his teammates moved him to a separate room and started talking between themselves.

“How bad is it?”

His fellow teammate asked with a grim expression on his face.

The nameless man sighed and looked at the younger teen with a guilty stare.  
“Honestly from the looks of things, I don’t the kid will play football for a while, if ever again.”

The other boy turned back to face the injured boy laying on the table.

“God I hope he’s okay.”


	2. I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mr. Freeman, your recent grades have been extremely concerning.”
> 
> Freddy rolled his eyes, he knew that already. 
> 
> “We do not want you to fail your finals so as per school policy, Mr. Batson here is to tutor you.”
> 
> Freddy widened his eyes and the other boy shot up.
> 
> “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy uwu

Billy walked through the hallway in a slump. Looking around he noticed nothing had changed from the day before, not that he had expected it to. People were talking and laughing, he rolled his eyes at the sight. _Fake_.

He passed the clique of jockstraps and noticed a dreary vibe. He shook it off, _they probably lost a game or something stupid like that._ He stopped at his locker to put his books down.

As soon as he started unpacking he heard a wave of shocked voices from behind him. He turned around to see what all the ruckus was about and spotted Freddy Freeman, the school football team’s running back limping his way forward using a support cane.

He was accompanied by another player, _Peter? No.. Pedro_. The larger boy looked concerned and weary as Freddy walked. The rest of the team crowded them and Billy looked away. _None of my business anyways._

He headed towards his first period class with a sigh. He just wanted this marking period to be over already so that he could graduate as valedictorian next year, and so his parents would stop nagging him about it.

His entire life he was lead to believe that his destiny was to be the smartest. His parents always pushed him to academically excel. When he was younger he would always abide with no complaints but as he grew older his interest stated to fade.

 

_Why did it matter that I was the smartest? I’m already above average._

 

He sighed as he entered his first period english class. _Whatever_.

He took out his homework and laid it on his desk. _It’s not like they would ever let me fail to achieve my ‘dream.’ If I didn’t succeed by their standards they would have my head._

The class was slow, and the information flew in and out of his ears. _What were they learning, Shakespeare?_ It didn’t matter, he had probably already learnt it years ago.

The period seemed endless as Billy looked at the time.

 

_9:04_

 

He sighed, _11 more minutes_. He returned his gaze back to the front of the room were the teacher was standing.

“Billy Batson please report to the principal’s office”

He turned to face the loud speaker above the door and then looked back at his teacher. She nodded and motioned for him to go. He grabbed his stuff and made his way out the door.

 _What’s this about?_ He made his way through the halls and to the office.

When he arrived he noticed the room was empty, except for the school’s running back sitting down scrolling on his phone.

Billy looked at him with curiosity and pushed his glasses up with his fingers. He sat down in the farthest seat from the other boy and pulled out his phone.

 

_9:12_

 

The bell should be ringing soon. He hoped whatever this was would be over soon. Despite his hatred for perfect grades, he didn’t want to fail.

A teacher walked in a moment later holding a clipboard. She looked at both of them and spoke up.

“Freddy Freeman? Billy Batson?”

They both nodded and she gestured to the door.

“The principal would like to speak with you.”

 

 

Freddy sat there for what felt like forever. He had skipped the entirety of first period in favor of his spot in this chair. This entire day had been so strange. It felt like he was being crowded by everyone asking him if he was okay and such.

Although he had appreciated their concern, he did not miss his teammates. The only one that was truly there for him was Pedro. He checked in often and accompanied him throughout everything.

He sighed as he looked back down at his phone. He had been on bed rest for about a month ever since the injury, and had finally come back today.

Even if he was home, that did not exclude him from work. They would send him homework and quizzes, but he did not find it in him to care about how well he did. He knew that it would gravely affect his grades and if he ever healed, would get him kicked off the football team.

Even with the consequences laid out, it still did not bother him in the slightest. Sure his injury was a major inconvenience, but limping around was still better than playing football. Even if he had ever miraculously managed to heal, bad grades would get him kicked off anyways so he figured it was a win either way.

He had _never_ liked football. He played it his entire high school career, but only because it was there. Back in middle school he was bullied for his interests. He was a major geek who loved superheroes and comic books, he still did. But his parents refused to raise a child that did not major in sports. They hated him for who he was but now loved him for who he wasn’t. He changed because of _them_. He lost himself because of _them_. Now he wanted to remove the one aspect of his life that tortured him the most because of _them_.

He sighed at looked at the time.

 

_9:10_

 

He slumped back down in his seat as a boy walked in. He was wearing a button down shirt with a red hoodie over it. His hair was semi-gelled and his glasses were slightly slipping down him face. He looked around his age, but Freddy had never seen him before in his life.

The nameless boy sat down in the seat farthest from him and pulled out his phone. Freddy sighed, _so much for conversation._

They were motioned into the principal’s office a moment later and Freddy grew confused as to what was happening.

He sat down and Billy _Was that his name?_ did the same in the seat next to him.

He looked at him but the other boy continued to look forward to face the principal.

Freddy huffed and turned to face her as well.

“Boys, I’m sure you are wondering why you are here.”

Freddy nodded and she continued,

“Mr. Freeman, your recent grades have been extremely concerning.”

Freddy rolled his eyes, _he knew that already._

“We do not want you to fail your finals so as per school policy, Mr. Batson here is to tutor you.”

Freddy widened his eyes and the other boy shot up.

“What?”

Freddy turned to look at him and spoke up,

“What the hell do you mean, _what_?”

Glasses shot him a pointed look and crossed his arms in a pout.

“I can’t tutor him. I refuse to.”

“Boys please sit down. I’m sorry Mr. Batson, but you are really the only person fit for Freddy’s case. His grades are not the best right now and you always succeed greatly in the academic department.”

Glasses sighed and slouched down back into his seat. He looked grumpy and above all else annoyed.

Freddy rolled his eyes and sat down also to the best of his ability.

 

_I’m being tutored by someone who hates my guts…. wonderful._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don’t forget to leave kudos and comments <33


	3. II.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy looked at Billy and closed his eyes.
> 
> “I don’t see why we are doing this. I would much rather be anywhere else.”
> 
> Billy sighed and looked at the book.
> 
> “Trust me. I’d rather be somewhere else too. Honestly anything is better then getting stuck here three times a week with you.”
> 
> Freddy opened his eyes and looked at Billy with annoyance.
> 
> “Honestly what is your problem? Ever since yesterday at the principal’s office you’ve been giving off this vibe that you don’t like me.”
> 
> “That’s because I don’t.”
> 
> “But I’ve done nothing to you!”
> 
> “You don’t have to. Is it a crime to not like someone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo i hope you enjoy this!!

Freddy limped into the library with an aggravated stance. Today was his first tutoring session with the glasses kid who resented him and he couldn’t have been more excited.

Freddy rolled his eyes as he spotted him sitting at one of the tables with his head in a book. He squinted his eyes at the cover page, _History of the Counsel of Wizards_ , Freddy’s mind immediately went to his extensive knowledge on comics. _Huh, so this kid likes Captain Marvel.. interesting._

He approached the table and plopped down his bag with a bang. Glasses looked up from his book and narrowed his eyes in a glare.

“Hello Freddy. Glad to see you decided to show.”

Freddy groaned.

“I’m only 15 minutes late Batson, give me a break.”

“I think you’ve had enough of a break for how long you’ve been out of school.

“I’m fucking injured!”

“Still, no excuse to slack on your studies.”

Freddy rolled his eyes and sat down.

“Okay look, this is only until 4:30. Right now it’s,” he looked down at his phone, “3:00, let’s just start so we can get this over with.”

Billy rolled his eyes but obeyed anyways. He pulled out their mathematics book and Freddy let out an unhappy moan.

“Ugh why do we had to start with math. I’m ass at that.”

Billy adjusted his glasses and gave him a pointed look.

“That’s exactly why we have to go over it.”

Freddy pouted at the boy sitting across from him.

“Please.”

“No.”

“Please Billy. Can we do anything, literally _anything_ except for math.”

Billy sighed and put the book away.

“Fine, but we have to get to it eventually.”

Freddy fist pumped the air and let out a grin at Billy.

“Yes! Thanks glasses.”

Billy rolled his eyes pulling out Romeo and Juliet from his bag.

“Whatever, and don’t call me that!”

 

 

 

_4:15_

 

 

 

“Why the hell does Shakespeare make his characters talk like that?”

Freddy exasperatedly exclaimed as he slumped face first into the script.

“It’s old English Freddy. That’s how everyone spoke back then.”

Freddy started flipping the pages to the back of the book and pointed to the modern translated section.

“Why can’t we read this one? It's so much easier to understand and they use _actual_ English.”

Billy sighed and took the script from Freddy. He started flipping back to where their bookmark was.

“Because that’s the whole point of the lesson. Shakespeare’s style is useless without this type of language. Also it _is_ actual English, our vernacular has just changed since then.”

Freddy looked at Billy and closed his eyes.

“I don’t see why we are doing this. I would much rather be _anywhere_ else.”

Billy sighed and looked at the book.

“Trust me. I’d rather be somewhere else too. Honestly anything is better then getting stuck here three times a week with _you_.”

Freddy opened his eyes and looked at Billy with annoyance.

“Honestly what is your problem? Ever since yesterday at the principal’s office you’ve been giving off this vibe that you don’t like me.”

“That’s because I don’t.”

“But I’ve done nothing to you!”

“You don’t have to. Is it a crime to not like someone?”

Freddy gave him a look and Billy met his gaze. He sighed and gestured to the playbook.

“We only have to do this for another two months. That’s like what? 33 hours in all?”

“36”

Freddy rolled his eyes.

“Whatever it is, we aren’t required to see each other ever out of that times table. So let’s just get this session over with so that you can get rid of me and I can go home.”

Billy sighed and turned back to the book.

“Okay so line 48 states that Benvolio tried to stop them right?”

Freddy nodded and Billy continued reading.

 

 

_Boy this was going to be a long 2 months._

 

 

 

 

Billy watched the runningback walk the opposite direction as he adjusted his bag.

 

_He was so annoying, all privileged and free. How irritating._

 

Billy sighed as started his walk home.

Just two months. Two months and it’s over.

He didn’t understand why this was happening to him. I guess this is yet another bad repercussion stemmed from my ‘dream’.

He put in his headphones and pushed play on his music.

 

_Why Freddy Freeman of all people? Of course it had to be the most annoying one of all those jock types._

 

Freddy was so humble and passionate about football. It was aggravating to all extents. He was ungrateful and his parents didn’t seem to give him any crap for him slacking off so much.

Imagine if that happened to Billy? He had to laugh at the thought. His parents would bury him alive along with any sort of reminders of his existence and failure.

A few minutes later his house came into view. He spotted his parents’ car in the driveway and groaned. _Great_.

His waltzed into his home and took of his shoes. He slowly made his way up the stairs but was stopped by his mom’s voice calling him.

“Billy! Sweetie your home! Come down here and tell us about your day.”

He rolled his eyes but quickly masked his annoyance with a smile as he walked back down.

“Hey mom.”

She pulled him into a hug.

“Ah how was your day honey? What did you get on that Chemistry test you told us about?”

 

_Of course. They never want to know about me. Everything was always about my grades._

 

“I got an 100% of course.”

Her face quickly turned into a beaming expression as she squeezed him tighter.

“That’s my son! I’m so proud of you!”

 

_Are you proud of me or the score?_

 

She walked away from him and continued whatever she was doing.

“You know we only accept three digit scores in this household. Wait until your father hears this he’ll be so happy!”

Billy sighed and turned away from her. He made his way back up to him room with his stuff in tow.

 

_This is ridiculous. What is wrong with his family?_

 

 

 

 

Freddy exited the library and headed straight for the field behind the school. Even if he was injured his father wouldn’t let him ditch out on practice. Obviously he wouldn’t make him do anything too bad but he was still on ‘injured reserve’ so he was forced to come.

He thought about the study session he just left a couple minutes ago. He thought of his tutor,

 

_What is wrong with that kid? I did nothing to him. Why does he hate me so much?_

 

If Freddy was being honest, he didn’t really like glasses all that much. He was preppy, a know-it-all, and obviously was rude to him for whatever reason.

He shook it off. It didn’t matter that much anyways. He just had to deal with him for 7 more weeks and then he never had to see him again.

He entered the field and spotted Pedro, his closest friend and fellow teammate.

“Hey Freeman! There you are! Coach has been looking for you.”

Freddy waved at him and looked across the large space for his father.

“Where is h—“

“Number 7!”

Freddy jolted at the shout and faced whoever called his name with such aggression.

“Hey dad.”

“Where the hell have you been! Practice started 20 minutes ago.”

“I’m not even playing.”

“But you are still a vital part of the team. Injured or not you should be here.”

Freddy rolled his eyes and made his way to the bench by the edge of the field.

“Chill out dad. I was at a tutoring session.”

His father’s eyes widened and his followed his son to the seating area.

“Why the hell were you at something like that when you _should_ have been here?”

Freddy sighed.

“My grades aren’t good dad. They are forcing me to pull them up by finals.”

“Who is _they_?”

“Principal Mazahs.”

“Oh I swear to god. That woman is tearing my team apar—“

“Don’t even think about it dad. She’ll get you fired.”

“Oh grades smades, why do they even matter? You excel here. You don’t need that.”

 

_Oh lord if only you knew how much I hated this place._

 

“Dad you don’t even know if I’ll ever get to play aga—“

“Sit down number 7. We need to continue practice.”

Freddy slumped and pulled out his phone.

 

 

_4:56_

 

 

_3 hours until I get to go home. Good god, why did they have to make practice so damn long._

 

He started playing some game on his phone while his dad screamed at his teammates on the field.

“Hey Freddy!”

He paused his game and directed his head to the voice calling him.

He saw a very familiar little girl run his way and another familiar cheerleader running after her.

He was engulfed by the smaller girl in a hug.

“Awh Freddy you’re back! I missed you!”

Freddy smiled at her and returned the hug.

“I missed you too Darla.”

He directed his gaze to Mary, who just now caught up.

“H…hey Freeman. How’s your leg doing?”

She said panting. Freddy laughed at her exhaustion and answered her question,

“Hey Mary. It’s fine, don’t think I’ll ever get to play again.”

Her face turned to concern and Freddy sighed.

“Save your sympathy. Really it’s fine.”

Darla released her hold and looked at him with a pout.

“Does that mean I can’t watch you play anymore?”

Freddy guiltily nodded his head, the only off thing about losing football was losing Darla’s excitement whenever he played.

“Awh I’m sorry Darla, I’ll come to the games still. You and I can watch Pedro play, what do you think about that?”

“What did you say about me Freeman?”

Freddy laughed and turned to face the larger boy’s voice.

“Speak of the devil. Hey Peña.”

They exchanged a handshake and Pedro smiled at his company.

“Hey Mary, Darla.”

They both waved at him and Darla jumped to give him a hug.

“Woah there. Maybe later, I’m all sweaty right now.”

She slumped but pulled away nonetheless.

“Freddy said that he would come with me to watch you play!”

Pedro looked at Freddy and the boy shrugged.

Pedro laughed and ruffled Darla’s hair.

“Hey Mary when do her parents want her back?”

Mary pulled out her phone and checked her messages.

“They said they were coming back a little late tonight, maybe around 8-ish?”

“Perfect.”

Pedro grabbed Darla’s shoulder and looked at her and then Freddy.

“What do you guys think of ice cream after practice is over?”

Darla beamed at the boy and looked back at Mary.

“Please Mary! Please can we go!”

Mary sighed and looked at Freddy.

He shrugged and she turned back to Darla.

“Only one scoop.”

She started jumping up and down and Freddy laughed at her excitement.

 

_I just hope my dad will let me go._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't forget to leave kudos & comments :)

**Author's Note:**

> come scream about freebat with me hehe  
> my tumblr is: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/harleyspotatoes


End file.
